CROWN POINT | Perhaps in some small way, Dawn Grutzius owes the location of her upcoming nuptials to John Dillinger.

After all, if Dillinger hadn't escaped from the Lake County Jail in 1934, the jail never would have been used as a location for the filming of the Universal Studios movie "Public Enemies." The studio renovated the rooms that Crown Point resident Grutzius, 25, will use for her wedding ceremony.

"I'm really not so far outside the box," she said. "But if I have the opportunity to be creative ..."

Grutzius began looking for venues early in the year and decided she wanted to do something different than the normal reception hall.

She booked the Hall of Justice, 220 S. Main St., the Old Lake County Criminal Court building, because of its character and planned to have the ceremony and reception there, but after deciding to model the reception after a speakeasy where guests could only enter with a password, Grutzius decided she needed the wedding in a different location.

She looked around downtown Crown Point and found some interesting buildings, but many had been remodeled into offices that wouldn't work for a wedding ceremony. Eventually, her mom got in touch with the Old Sheriff's House Foundation in mid-February, but was told the Old House and Jail were in the process of being restored, but couldn't guarantee anything would be finished by Grutzius' wedding today.

After the movie packed up, Grutzius received a call that with some renovations complete, she might be able to marry at the building, so she visited the Old House and Jail. Unimpressed with the house because it still was just a room with wood floors, she had a different reaction when she entered the cellblock.

Future husband Randy Hacker, 25, has yet to visit the location, she said.

"It's a little gloomy and dark, but it's a jail," she said.

Grutzius plans to have few decorations, just a few plants on some columns to designated the altar area, but that's what she wanted, a room with a lot of character so there would be little decoration.

"We're not decorating a jail. You can't really froufrou it up," said her mother, Jackie Grutzius.

Grutzius is quick to point out that she was interested in the building before the movie, although she admits the movie helps people understand what the building is and sparks conversation about the wedding.

In keeping with her Dillinger-era theme, Grutzius said she and her bridesmaids will have period hairstyles and she's wearing a handmade feather headpiece instead of a traditional veil. Her mother has a friend in a local Model A club who will bring period cars to the building for photos.

The foundation and Grutzius did decide on a price for her to use the building, but Grutzius said she's pleased that the money will go to further renovations of the building.

"People should realize all the historical stuff we have in Crown Point," she said. "It's all so close."